We know what people say, you can't go home again, I hope that's not true but 11 years ago I was proven wrong, and I hope three weeks from now I'm not proven wrong again. I'm going back to Edmonton to see my parents, and my old surroundings. After I moved to Edmonton when I was 12 I returned to Montreal the next summer and to my surprise I found out all my friends had moved on without me. My life stood still for 6 months after I moved west and when I returned, the whole I had left was filled. I hope that never happens with my family but I can't expect them to stop living when I'm not there. I know things will be different, my mother and I have always been close and I'm prepared to see her being closer to my sister than me now, which is understandable but still odd to me.
I hope to see old friends and for a few days fall back into my old ways, but it'll be odd to be visiting a place I called home last year. My first anniversary is in 8 days and we're hoping to do something romantic and memorable, seems that we've already falling into a little bit of a rut with everything we've been through. Seems that even though we've only been married a year with everything we had to do with all the stress we endured and what our marriage has been through seems like we're an old married couple already. I love this man more than life itself but I'm trying to recapture that spark we had when we first met.
Believe it or not, my husband and I met over the Internet. A lot of people think it's over a dating website or something like that but it was actually playing video games. We spoke for 7 months online before he came up to Canada to visit me, the feeling I had the first time I met him in person was unexplainable. I was excited, I saw him and he was so gorgeous that it immediately made me nervous that he might not continue feeling the same way about me, but we instantly hit it off. The good thing about meeting someone online before you do in person, you get to know that person on such a deeper level than you even would in person, in the time span given. There's no awkward moments about each others feelings, you can't try and read the other persons impress of you, you have to be open with you feelings and just say them. When I met my husband face to face for the first time I felt like I had known him for years. I don't know what the future holds for my husband and I, if it's in California or in Canada, I just know that I'll always have my one constant in my life now, My husband will always be my home.
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Immigration
Moving from Canada to the U.S isn't as easy as you might think. When Brad came into Canada in November 2008 after we came to California for his dad's wedding, customs almost didn't let him into Canada and I started having a Panic attack.We tried to think of anything we could do to be together in either Countries but the only way we could do it legally was to get married, we sat and talked about it for a while and we knew we would be together forever and that we were going to get married sooner or later so we decided we needed to do this to be together. First thing we needed to do was apply for a petition to be able to apply for a visa. Waiting for that approval took forever, it was about Six months before we got anything back, when we got that we needed to apply for the fiance visa. We needed to show proof of us knowing each other, take pictures, send a bunch of paperwork and a large check. After a few more months we received a letter saying I needed to go to a U.S embassy and get a physical. My mom and I hopped on a plane and headed to Vancouver for a couple of days. I had a physical and an interview with the embassy, the interview went very well but my xray showed an abnormality on my lung, so I headed back to Edmonton and had a visit with my doctor the next day. Luckily a few years prior they thought I had gallbladder stones so I had had an xray done then and the abnormality showed there, was the same size so my Doctor wrote it off as a what he called a "Fat Pad".
I sent the results to the embassy and got a call saying they received it and were now processing my visa.
In the meanwhile, we started planning the wedding, we decided since most of my family is in Montreal and some kind of all over the place we decided to have it in California, who wouldn't come out here, and we figured since Brad's family is all out here why not. Now the problem was people aren't going to want to come here and pay for a hotel room for a week or just fly all the way here for the weekend, so we figured we'll do it on a cruise ship and then it's a wedding and a trip. So we send out the invitations for September 20th 2009 in San Diego, on the cruise ship before it sails. Everyone books their cruise tickets, we get a nice room for a honeymoon, we book a hall for the wedding everything is set.
I get the call that my wedding dress is ready for my first fitting after waiting for 5 months, so we're getting ready to head out when I see my mom standing at the kitchen counter looking devastated holding a piece of paper, i ask her whats wrong I see a FedEx envelope and my passport which I figured the government sent back with my visa in it.I read the letter and it says after I enter the States, I can not leave until I've gotten married and gotten my Permanent Residency card, which can take up to a year. So my mom my sister and I are off to my wedding dress fitting with no wedding to go to, I was devastated. I was sitting down waiting for them to bring me my dress and I was balling with my mom and sister consoling me, people were looking at me feeling all bad I'm sure they all thought that My fiance had canceled the wedding, which was not the case, was almost as bad.
So a month and a half before we come down to California and we have no venue and my family is all booked to come to Cali for my wedding, so we HAVE to have it on that weekend, and that was the last week of work I had at home, so tying up loose ends at work and contacting every hotel in the city that was vacant for the 19th (because they were all sailing off on the 20th, i couldn't do it that day anymore) and having people just laughing at me that I was calling for a venue two months before the date, plus now we had the budget to factor in, with all the cancellation fees we had about 3500$ for 120 people wedding. So i called and called and after I told people my story a lot of people tried to help, calling people who had some of their venues booked making sure they were still using it, I was almost at the point of bribing people until we got lucky enough one of the local hotels was available for a venue for 150 people or less and was very inexpensive, we booked it right away.
After the wedding we applied for my permanent residency which didn't take as long as they said it would at all, I got the paperwork saying I needed to go to a government building in L.A with my husband so they could ask us a few questions, I'm assuming to make sure we knew each other and he didn't buy me or the other way around, I got approved that day and got the letter stating so a few days later and my permanent residency card a few weeks later.
I thought I was out of the woods but here comes that hard part, getting my California I.D and my Social Security card. I can't get my I.D without my SSC, and when I applied for my SSC the bozo made a huge mistake and I ended up waiting 3 months longer for my card, meaning i had to wait 3 months longer to find a job and once i got my card, I applied for my I.D which they said 3 weeks and I had to wait 4 months for them to contact the USCIS to make sure I was legit and I got it. I've been here since August 15 2009 and I JUUUUST last month got my I.D. Out of everything I had to go through I had the most problems with what should have been the easiest.
I'm still on probation since we were JUST married when i applied for my permanent residency, so before out 2 year anniversary we need to apply for them to remove the probationary status off, or they can send me back to Canada. Hopefully I have a job then or I'm going to look like a total bum :P I'll post updates about this when it gets that time, just thought I needed to share this information with the people out there... Immigrating is NOT fun, it's costly and nerve racking but if it's for the right reasons or person, it makes it all worth it.
I sent the results to the embassy and got a call saying they received it and were now processing my visa.
In the meanwhile, we started planning the wedding, we decided since most of my family is in Montreal and some kind of all over the place we decided to have it in California, who wouldn't come out here, and we figured since Brad's family is all out here why not. Now the problem was people aren't going to want to come here and pay for a hotel room for a week or just fly all the way here for the weekend, so we figured we'll do it on a cruise ship and then it's a wedding and a trip. So we send out the invitations for September 20th 2009 in San Diego, on the cruise ship before it sails. Everyone books their cruise tickets, we get a nice room for a honeymoon, we book a hall for the wedding everything is set.
I get the call that my wedding dress is ready for my first fitting after waiting for 5 months, so we're getting ready to head out when I see my mom standing at the kitchen counter looking devastated holding a piece of paper, i ask her whats wrong I see a FedEx envelope and my passport which I figured the government sent back with my visa in it.I read the letter and it says after I enter the States, I can not leave until I've gotten married and gotten my Permanent Residency card, which can take up to a year. So my mom my sister and I are off to my wedding dress fitting with no wedding to go to, I was devastated. I was sitting down waiting for them to bring me my dress and I was balling with my mom and sister consoling me, people were looking at me feeling all bad I'm sure they all thought that My fiance had canceled the wedding, which was not the case, was almost as bad.
So a month and a half before we come down to California and we have no venue and my family is all booked to come to Cali for my wedding, so we HAVE to have it on that weekend, and that was the last week of work I had at home, so tying up loose ends at work and contacting every hotel in the city that was vacant for the 19th (because they were all sailing off on the 20th, i couldn't do it that day anymore) and having people just laughing at me that I was calling for a venue two months before the date, plus now we had the budget to factor in, with all the cancellation fees we had about 3500$ for 120 people wedding. So i called and called and after I told people my story a lot of people tried to help, calling people who had some of their venues booked making sure they were still using it, I was almost at the point of bribing people until we got lucky enough one of the local hotels was available for a venue for 150 people or less and was very inexpensive, we booked it right away.
After the wedding we applied for my permanent residency which didn't take as long as they said it would at all, I got the paperwork saying I needed to go to a government building in L.A with my husband so they could ask us a few questions, I'm assuming to make sure we knew each other and he didn't buy me or the other way around, I got approved that day and got the letter stating so a few days later and my permanent residency card a few weeks later.
I thought I was out of the woods but here comes that hard part, getting my California I.D and my Social Security card. I can't get my I.D without my SSC, and when I applied for my SSC the bozo made a huge mistake and I ended up waiting 3 months longer for my card, meaning i had to wait 3 months longer to find a job and once i got my card, I applied for my I.D which they said 3 weeks and I had to wait 4 months for them to contact the USCIS to make sure I was legit and I got it. I've been here since August 15 2009 and I JUUUUST last month got my I.D. Out of everything I had to go through I had the most problems with what should have been the easiest.
I'm still on probation since we were JUST married when i applied for my permanent residency, so before out 2 year anniversary we need to apply for them to remove the probationary status off, or they can send me back to Canada. Hopefully I have a job then or I'm going to look like a total bum :P I'll post updates about this when it gets that time, just thought I needed to share this information with the people out there... Immigrating is NOT fun, it's costly and nerve racking but if it's for the right reasons or person, it makes it all worth it.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Random Thoughts
I've wanted to start my own blog for a while now, but never really knew what to talk about. There's nothing interesting about me, I'm a 24 year old unemployed (not by choice) Canadian living in the United States. I immigrated here a about a year ago. I got here on a fiance visa, got married to an amazing man and now I'm living in California.
I was born and raised in Montreal Canada, moved to Edmonton Alberta when I was 12 and moved to California when I was 23. I now live with my husband and my brother in law, which is my husbands twin. We have two cats, one female named Shayne and one male named George, hes our baby and a total little shit. Shayne moved here with me from Edmonton.
I'm trying to get a job in a kitchen, somewhere... anywhere. I co-owned a business in Edmonton with my Mother called "Tastes Like More" PCS (Personal Chef Service). When I moved here the business was ripped apart and sold. Finding a job out here in a kitchen is almost impossible, I get dirty looks from head of kitchens, not be able to believe a female is wanting to work in their kitchen. I found one place that I'm working at getting a job in, getting my foot in the door in you will... More on that later.
In a few weeks I will be going to Edmonton to visit with my family, I'm heading up with my Husband and Brother in law, or as my mom calls them B&B (Brad and Bryan). My mom and dad are coming to visit at Christmas but I needed a fix of home, nothing like going back home again. I'll be having Brad's younger sisters house sit and make sure our cats don't kill each other.
Living out here instead of Canada is completely different, the air, the trees, the people. I've experienced Montreal, bright lights, town is always buzzing, French people, my Aunts and Uncles and Cousins, the food is amazing. I miss the Milk and Bread from Montreal, and the hot dogs... AND poutine!!!
Edmonton is ALL about the beef, I was told it was a lot like Texas, cowboys, land is flat and it's very industrial. It gets cold but it's ALWAYS sunny, the winters are BEAUTIFUL, believe it or not I miss the winters.
California, palm trees, sea salt air, beaches, Mexican food, everyone speaking Spanish, It's so different. The biggest difference is the stars out here, not in the sky... Movie stars, I've seen more in a year here than I ever did in my life time in Canada. Having Paul Walker and Dennis Miller coming into my place of work, not many people in Canada can say that.
Anywho, the 19th's is my first year anniversary and we're trying to figure out where to go or what to do to celebrate, money is tight and it seems like we've done everything already. There was talks of going to L.A west Hollywood but I'm not sure if we are. Still trying to figure out, 11 days left to figure something out.Other than that my week will consist of contacting a few jobs to see if I could get one, watching show premieres like The ultimate fighter, Grey's anatomy, and old favorites like Tosh.0, which we went to see live and was hilarious. Anyways, time to make dinner, more like through a Pizza in the Oven, I'll keep in touch.
I was born and raised in Montreal Canada, moved to Edmonton Alberta when I was 12 and moved to California when I was 23. I now live with my husband and my brother in law, which is my husbands twin. We have two cats, one female named Shayne and one male named George, hes our baby and a total little shit. Shayne moved here with me from Edmonton.
I'm trying to get a job in a kitchen, somewhere... anywhere. I co-owned a business in Edmonton with my Mother called "Tastes Like More" PCS (Personal Chef Service). When I moved here the business was ripped apart and sold. Finding a job out here in a kitchen is almost impossible, I get dirty looks from head of kitchens, not be able to believe a female is wanting to work in their kitchen. I found one place that I'm working at getting a job in, getting my foot in the door in you will... More on that later.
In a few weeks I will be going to Edmonton to visit with my family, I'm heading up with my Husband and Brother in law, or as my mom calls them B&B (Brad and Bryan). My mom and dad are coming to visit at Christmas but I needed a fix of home, nothing like going back home again. I'll be having Brad's younger sisters house sit and make sure our cats don't kill each other.
Living out here instead of Canada is completely different, the air, the trees, the people. I've experienced Montreal, bright lights, town is always buzzing, French people, my Aunts and Uncles and Cousins, the food is amazing. I miss the Milk and Bread from Montreal, and the hot dogs... AND poutine!!!
Edmonton is ALL about the beef, I was told it was a lot like Texas, cowboys, land is flat and it's very industrial. It gets cold but it's ALWAYS sunny, the winters are BEAUTIFUL, believe it or not I miss the winters.
California, palm trees, sea salt air, beaches, Mexican food, everyone speaking Spanish, It's so different. The biggest difference is the stars out here, not in the sky... Movie stars, I've seen more in a year here than I ever did in my life time in Canada. Having Paul Walker and Dennis Miller coming into my place of work, not many people in Canada can say that.
Anywho, the 19th's is my first year anniversary and we're trying to figure out where to go or what to do to celebrate, money is tight and it seems like we've done everything already. There was talks of going to L.A west Hollywood but I'm not sure if we are. Still trying to figure out, 11 days left to figure something out.Other than that my week will consist of contacting a few jobs to see if I could get one, watching show premieres like The ultimate fighter, Grey's anatomy, and old favorites like Tosh.0, which we went to see live and was hilarious. Anyways, time to make dinner, more like through a Pizza in the Oven, I'll keep in touch.
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